The polar vortex is here and the weather is lovely, cooler and less humid. Add to that the fact that today is an open house at my gym (with the attendant hordes of lookie-loos) and I was eager to get outside for a run.

It’s funny; I’ve been doing squat variations for a really long time and some make me really sore and some don’t. This stage’s split squats do. My legs felt beat up but I finished 2.42 miles around the work neighborhood in 30 minutes, which isn’t too bad of a pace all things considered.

Work is being super stressful lately. We’re short-staffed and tasks easily get buried under new ones; there aren’t enough hours in the day to get it all done. (For what it’s worth, I’m lucky to have a job where, at the end of the day, I don’t have to take work home– but I’m feeling pressure to.) I take a chunk of time in the morning for the gym, and I make up that time but I feel like my boss is eyeing me every time I go. I’m a bit worried that I’ll be asked to stop going. But that hour or so of the day is critical for me; I come back refreshed and clear-headed. I hope it doesn’t come to that.